A Squared

Yeah, I've flown P4-LAE. Nice plane. I think it was the lowest time plane I've flown, at least the lowest time large aircraft anyway. When we got it, there was evidence of shrapnel in the cargo compartment ... from the inside. Know anything about that?

And it is being wet-leased to PNG Air and operated in Papua New Guinea under their Operating Certificate It is still being operated and maintained by Lynden flight crews and Mx personnel

That's more or less correct Don, but I think that it should be clarified that Lynden did not acquire Safair, or it's operation or operating certificate. Lynden purchased the airframes, and is dry-leasing them back to Safair. Safair is still a completely separate airline and as far as I know is still owned by a ASL in Dublin. That and EI-JIV, s/n 4673, formerly ZS-JIV . That airframe has been registered as N410LC and is in the process of being added to Lynden Air Cargo's operating certificate.

So, what's the story on the plane? I've seen it sitting over there (It's actually on an unused portion of the airport, not at Kulis), but didn't realize it was a discard.

Yep, I was just over on Elmendorf yesterday, the Guard hercs are all over on the north ramp. The fuselage of the C-123 is over there also, although the wings are still sitting at Kulis.

Yep, I was jut agreeing with your point.

Yeah, the rudder is the thing that flaps back and forth, the fin is the thing that doesn't. Two different things.

Yeah, saw the line of cars at the gate all day Sunday. Not sure but what it doesn't make sense to move it to Elmendorf though.

Don't know that the Air Force "owns" the Allison 501 any more than they "own" the T74 (AKA P&W PT-6)

I'm sure there are plenty of other pilots and engineers to keep Darwin's in business. ;)

Hahaha Yes. I think we may have had an exchange about an extreme gradient STC on another forum.

I'd agree that this level of detail is a bit beyond what's needed for a flight crew checkride. Mostly it's curiosity on my part. I just like understanding how things work. I'm one of those guys who is always taking things apart to see how they work. However, if somone from our Mx Department looks out on the ramp and sees me straddling a nacelle and dismantling a valve housing, chances are good that I'll get fired, so asking here is probably a better approach. BTW, what is SEFE? Stand.-Eval. Flight Engineer?

Dan, thanks for that. That seems to agree with a description I just found in a Lockheed manual

Thanks Lkuest, That makes sense. A follow up question, if you don't mind; Is the required pressure generated only by positioning the pilot valve, or does the little walking beam arrangement that rides on the blade angle cam and the Beta follow up cam also actuate some other valve that increases the pressure to the prop?

The selector selects between navigation with the GPS and Navigation with a VOR or ILS. In other words, it selects where the CDI (Course deviation indicator, the vertical bar in the center of your HSI) gets it's information. NATOPS describes what the VOR is, but be aware that you don't always find them at the center of the airport. Tinker, being an AFB, doesn't have one. There are a couple of VORs in the area of Tinker: The Wiley Post VOR is located 14 miles North West of Tinker. t's frequency is 113.4. If you dial that frequency into your NAV1 radio and select VOR/ILS 1, you should be able to track the radials, or "spokes" of that VOR. There is another VOR about 11 miles west-southwest of Tinker, the Will Rogers VOR, Frequency 114.1 ILS is the Instrument Landing System. This is a NAVaid which will help you line up on a runway. Unlike the VOR, there is only one possible "spoke" to follow (the LOCalizer), and it is aligned with the runway centerline. The ILS also has a "glideslope" which is a radio beam which will lead you down to the runway in sloping path, usually around 3 degrees. The Glideslope causes another bar to show up on your HSI which will tell you if you're above or below the glide slope. If you keep the left/right bar (Localizer) and the up down bar (Glideslope) centered, the ILS will lead you right down to the runway threshold. Not all runways have ILS's. At Tinker, there is an ILS for runway 35. The frequency is 109.5. Here is a chart or "approach plate" for the ILS approach to Runway 35 ILS RWY 35 There is also a ILS for Runway 17 (the same runway, opposite direction) That frequency is 111.3. ILS RWY 17 When the controller ells you "expect vectors to ILS 35" It meas that he wil give you a series of compass headings to fly, which if you follow, will position you to intercept the LOCalizer for the ILS RWY 35 approach. His "vectors" will place you on the localizer approximately 7 miles South of the airport, and at an altitude which will place you below the glideslope (generally 1500 ft higher then the airport, or about 2800 ft MSL for Tinker) so that as you fly inbound on the localizer the glideslope will come town to you (the GS bar will start to come down from the top of the HSI) The heading knob on the HSI sets the "heading bug", a little tab, which can be set on any heading around the HSI. This can be used as a quick reference for maintaining a desired compass heading when flying by hand (Keep the "bug" centered on the top of the HSI) or when using the autopilot, if heading mode is selected on the autopilot, it will maintain the airplane on whatever compass heading the "bug" is set to.